Brie Larson takes flight as Captain Marvel on this week's EW cover

For more on Captain Marvel, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here now. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

There’s a bright new star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Captain Marvel leads the cover of Entertainment Weekly’s new issue, with an exclusive first look at Brie Larson’s Air-Force-pilot-turned-intergalactic-hero.

Film fans know Carol Danvers only as the mysterious person paged by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in the last scene of Avengers: Infinity War, and she’ll appear in the still-untitled Avengers 4, presumably to help beat up on Thanos. But before that, she’s got her own story to tell — and EW has all the exclusive intel on her upcoming solo film.

When Captain Marvel hits theaters March 8, 2019, it’ll be the 21st entry in the MCU — and the first to star a solo female superhero. In the past decade, the MCU has assembled a diverse lineup of female heroes, from witches and warriors to widows and wasps. But never before has a woman headlined her own story — until Captain Marvel, the part-Kree, part-human pilot who made her comics debut back in 1968.

“She can’t help but be herself,” Larson tells EW. “She can be aggressive, and she can have a temper, and she can be a little invasive and in your face. She’s also quick to jump to things, which makes her amazing in battle because she’s the first one out there and doesn’t always wait for orders. But the [not] waiting for orders is, to some, a character flaw.”

EW’s cover (below) finds Carol somewhere between the Earth and the sky — a fitting place for a hero who’s trying to figure out how to reconcile her alien abilities with her more human flaws. Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel sidesteps the traditional origin-story template, and when it begins, Carol already has her powers. She’s left her earthly life behind to join an elite Kree military team called Starforce, led by Jude Law’s enigmatic commander.

But before long, Carol finds herself back on Earth with new questions about her past. And she’s got a formidable enemy in the form of the Skrulls — the notorious Marvel baddies made all the more dangerous by their shape-shifting abilities. Ben Mendelsohn plays their leader Talos, who spearheads a Skrull invasion of Earth.

Speaking of Earth, Captain Marvel takes place in the mid-’90s, long before Steve Rogers was defrosted or Tony Stark built his first suit. That allows the film to introduce younger version of familiar Marvel faces — like Jackson’s Nick Fury, who’s still a two-eyed S.H.I.E.L.D. desk jockey — as well as let Carol carve out her own, unique space in the MCU.

“This is not a superhero who’s perfect or otherworldly or has some godlike connection,” says Boden, who’s the MCU’s first female director. “But what makes her special is just how human she is. She’s funny, but doesn’t always tell good jokes. And she can be headstrong and reckless and doesn’t always make the perfect decisions for herself. But at her core, she has so much heart and so much humanity — and all of its messiness.”

We’ll be rolling out all kinds of details on the film over the next few days — including exclusive photos, details from our set visit, and in-depth interviews with the cast and crew — so stay tuned to EW.com.